Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday talked tough while reacting to the hit-and-run involving an Audi Q7 - allegedly being driven by the son of Mohammad Sohrab (in picture), a little-known Trinamul leader - that broke barricades, entered a no-entry zone and killed an Indian Air Force corporal.
"It is very unfortunate. This car had broken three-four barriers. What is this? Who issues licence to such people?" she asked. "It was a new car he was driving. I have asked the police to start a murder case."
The chief minister was speaking after a visit to the Command Hospital, where the corporal had been declared brought dead.
Trinamul insiders say the nature of the offence had prompted Mamata to act with alacrity as any attempt to shield Sohrab, 52, and his son would have shifted the focus on the party. "Elections are approaching... she did not want an unnecessary controversy over a small leader like Sohrab," a Trinamul source said. "Didi's swift intervention gagged the opposition."
It, however, did not stop tongues from wagging within the Trinamul rank and file. Questions were raised about the source of Sohrab's wealth.
It was in December 2013 that Sohrab entered Trinamul Bhavan with the party's former all-India general secretary Mukul Roy. "He did not have any political clout and was never considered for any organisational role. Yet, Mukul da got him," the source said.
He claimed Sohrab tried his best to wield influence on the party with his wealth. "But he was a nobody and that's why Didi did not take time to dump him on Wednesday," the source said.
Despite repeated attempts Sohrab could not be contacted.
People close to Sohrab said the family, originally from Bihar, had migrated to Calcutta more than 40 years ago. "His father used to sell tender coconut near Grace cinema on MG Road," said a Trinamul leader.
Sohrab had stated "fresh fruits" as his business in the affidavit he filed while contesting unsuccessfully on a JD (U) ticket in the 2011 Assembly polls. He had declared his total assets to be around Rs 76 lakh.
But the top-of-the-line Audi - bought a few days ago in the name of Mussadi Business Private Ltd, a company run by his son - is worth around Rs 90 lakh, an automobile industry source said.
"There are around 500 fruit traders in Mechhua and Sohrab is the richest," said Mohammad Shamshad, a local trader and BJP's candidate from Ward 39 in the 2015 CMC polls. Sohrab's net worth would run into hundreds of crores, Shamshad claimed. "There is little doubt that he didn't earn all this money through the fruit business."
The claim could not be independently verified. But some of the fruit traders in Mechhua and politicians in the area, cutting across political lines, said Sohrab used to deal in "hundreds of crores" and was close to former Bowbazar don Rashid Khan, who is now behind bars.
"From a fruit shop in Mechhua he has now moved into real estate," a Trinamul leader from Ward 39 said. "He owns a number of properties in central Calcutta, besides running a nursing home and a chain of eateries and hotels. Recently, he bought a property near Mahajati Sadan," they said.
Sohrab's political career took off less than 10 years ago when he won the Burrabazar Assembly seat as a Left-backed RJD candidate in the 2006 polls. "Many of our MLAs went to the Assembly in a state bus but Sohrab used to travel in a blue Mercedes," a CPM MLA recalled.
A source said Sohrab was a regular at Alimuddin Street and was close to the CPM MP Mohammad Salim, who had campaigned for him during the 2006 polls.
In 2009, Sohrab sprang a surprise on the Left by announcing he would join the Congress. He even held a meeting with the then state Congress president Pranab Mukherjee. But opposition from some of the party's local leaders shut the Congress doors on Sohrab.
